At Summer's End
Book Feature - At Summer's End by Courtney Ellis
HBL Note: At Summer’s End by Courtney Ellis is described as Downton Abbey meets Beauty and the Beast. And suddenly I feel like 1990 me and 2015 me are having a time-warp moment. Oh, and 2021 me is excited because this is a debut author and I absolutely adore getting the opportunity to learn about and promote “new” authors with all of you. (“New” because most debut authors have been writing for years if not decades…so new-to-us would be more accurate.) I also love a novel that features a character who is artistic or creative in some way and AT SUMMER’S END is about a female artist who is commissioned to paint at the estate of Castle Braemore. Scroll down to read more.
Book Feature - At Summer's End by Courtney Ellis
From the publisher:
Alberta Preston accepts the commission of a lifetime when she receives an invitation from the Earl of Wakeford to spend a summer painting at His Lordship's country home, Castle Braemore. Bertie imagines her residence at the prodigious estate will finally enable her to embark on a professional career and prove her worth as an artist, regardless of her gender.
Upon her arrival, however, Bertie finds the opulent Braemore and its inhabitants diminished by the Great War. The earl has been living in isolation since returning from the trenches, locked away in his rooms and hiding battle scars behind a prosthetic mask. While his younger siblings eagerly welcome Bertie into their world, she soon sees chips in that world's gilded facade. As she and the earl develop an unexpected bond, Bertie becomes deeply entangled in the pain and secrets she discovers hidden within Castle Braemore and the hearts of its residents.
Threaded with hope, love, and loss, At Summer's End delivers a portrait of a noble family--and a world--changed forever by the war to end all wars.
